


The Betting Pool

by samueltanders



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Carson Beckett POV, F/M, Gen, Mostly episode tags of people gossiping about John and Elizabeth's potential relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-06-27 14:18:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19792648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samueltanders/pseuds/samueltanders
Summary: It doesn't take long for the Atlantis crew to set up a bet on how long it will take for John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir to get together.





	1. Rising

The celebration was in full swing as Carson Beckett made his way out to the balcony where the party had spilled from the main gate room. All of Atlantis was alive with joy and laughter than it hadn’t seen for 10000 years. The shield protecting Atlantis was holding and keeping the Wraith at bay, giving the people of Earth and the Athosians time to celebrate their victory and their newfound allies.

“So, how long until they start sleeping together?” The voice startled him from his thoughts, and he turned to see Lieutenant Ford moving to stand beside him nodding towards the balcony. Carson turned and looked towards where the Lieutenant’s eyes were focused, seeing Doctor Elizabeth Weir and Major John Sheppard leaning against the railing of the balcony. They were facing away from the party, looking out towards the ocean while quietly chatting. Admittedly, they were standing quite close to each other. “I’m thinking of starting a betting pool,” Aiden laughed.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea lad,” Carson was quick to try and shut Aiden’s idea down. He knew if a rumour like this started, it would not only impact on Doctor Weir’s ability to command, especially after Colonel Sumner’s untimely death, but also on Major Sheppard, as he was now the most obvious choice to lead the military contingent on Atlantis.

“Aaahhh,” Aiden nodded, almost sagely. “You’re thinking John wants Teyla, the Athosian leader then? I can offer you some side action on that, but I think it’s a losing bet. She is only interested in a friendship between her people and us.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Carson was already exasperated with how far this conversation had gotten and wanted to shut down Ford’s pool before it got started and he got himself in trouble. “Well, Markham has put up his only unopened jar of coffee saying that they’ll have fucked before the end of the week. He said ‘their sexual tension was palpable’ when he saw them arguing about the rescue mission on the balcony yesterday,” Carson had only met Sergeant Markham once, but was sure that the shy soldier he had patched up would not have said such a thing, nor used such language.

Carson sighed at Aiden’s persistence with this bet and tried once again to talk him down before he was caught out and reprimanded. “Lieutenant, I don’t think it would be prudent to start a betting pool on _if_ the two leaders of our expedition will sleep with each other, I -” he stopped speaking when he heard Elizabeth laugh, they both turned towards the sound to find Elizabeth had gently placed a hand on John’s arm as she let out the gentle, and Carson couldn’t help but note, flirty laugh. The touch was brief, mere seconds, and if Carson wasn’t speaking with Aiden about the topic, it would have passed him by without note.

“Not if, Doc, when,” Aiden laughed as he walked away and flagged down a marine. Carson looked back at John and Elizabeth and couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Ford was onto something.


	2. Thirty Eight Minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How is he Carson? He died, he could have, he almost,” Her words now almost a whisper, he couldn’t help but see the fear written on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set after John's ‘death’ to remove the Iratus bug, but before Sheppard's team come visit.

Carson was in the infirmary looking though some of the notes on the Iratus Bug that had, up until a few hours ago, been attached to Major Sheppard’s neck. Now that the bug was dead, he was happy to admit that he was fascinated by it and how it related to the Wraith. The body of the bug had been left in his infirmary, he had several people with guns check it was dead before he allowed it to be left in his office, even in a containment box. He was planning on cutting the bug open with one of the scientists in the morning as he wanted to find any information they could gather from the bug that could help them in their fight against the Wraith.

“Doctor Beckett, is Jo-, ahem, Major Sheppard awake?” Carson looked up from his notes to find Elizabeth staring straight though him towards John’s bed.

“I think he’s still sleeping, but I can go check if-”

“No, no, its fine, he needs to rest. I was, um, I was just going to ask him a bit more about the Iratus bug,” Elizabeth replied “… for the report.” She added, almost lamely. Carson noticed she was almost blushing at how obvious her lie was. He tried to put her at ease, showing her the notes that he had made on the bug, how he hoped to find something to help against the Wraith, which calmed her a little, making her feel comfortable enough to offer up her real reason for coming to the infirmary. “How is he Carson? He died, he could have, he almost,” Her words now almost a whisper, he couldn’t help but see the fear written on her face.

“It was only a couple of minutes, Elizabeth.” He said as he placed a reassuring hand on her arm. “I know to us it was longer, but as soon as he went through the event horizon, time stopped for him and we were there seconds after they landed in the jumper bay. John will be fine, I assure you. The only problem we are going to have is keeping him in that bed to rest for a couple of days.” That made Elizabeth laugh, and Carson smiled as he saw her visibly relax, but there was still some worry in her face that he felt he had to try and alleviate. “It was the only way we could have gotten the bug off him, that thing is like the Wraith, they feed until there is nothing left.”

“I know, but I-I agreed to it, I let, if he’d died…” Elizabeth paused and Carson let her collect her thoughts. He noticed the expression on her face change and she now had an expression of a leader, rather than that of someone concerned for a friend. “I have already lost one military commander, to lose another within a month of being here…”

“It was his choice; he knew it was the only way,” Their conversation was interrupted by a pained groan coming from John’s bed. “Looks like he’s awake,” Carson smiled at Elizabeth, and motioned for her to follow him towards the bed. “How are you feeling, Major?”

“Been better,” he croaked. Carson smiled at this and turned to look at the monitor beside John to check on his vital signs. As he was checking on John’s status, he started to explain about his recovery, how _literally_ coming back from the dead meant that he would be on bed rest for at least a couple of days to ensure his body was recovering correctly. He stopped talking when he turned back to John and realised that he wasn’t listening. In fact, Carson thought that by the look John had, he probably did not even realise that he was still in the room. Elizabeth was stood at the foot of his bed, concern etched on her face, her eyes fixed on the bandage on John’s neck where the Iratus bug had been attached. John was staring at back at her with a dopey grin. “Lizabeth,” he almost whispered, as he motioned for her to come closer. She was by his bedside before Carson could blink. They weren’t speaking, but he still felt like they were having a conversation that he was not privy to and he was somehow intruding, so he excused himself on the pretence of getting some more painkillers for the Major.

 _I’ll give them a few minutes,_ he thought as he made his way back to his desk and sat down. He tried to make himself look busy, but he was unable to concentrate. His mind kept returning to the way that John looked at Elizabeth, the quickness that Elizabeth moved to his side when he spoke her name.

_So, how long until they start sleeping together?_

Aiden Ford’s words and his ill-advised bet came flooding back to his mind. Could he really be right? He had noticed that they had become friendly in the short time they’d been on Atlantis. Of course, they were the leaders of the expedition, it was inevitable that they would become close. They had nobody else they could lean on, everyone else in the city was effectively a subordinate. They were the civilian and military leaders, they were equals. A friendship was bound to flourish. At this, he decided that he was reading too much into it, that Aiden had planted a seed in his mind and when he saw an interaction between them that had even a small amount of affection, no matter how innocent, his mind would most likely go to that bet.

“Doc!” Carson turned to see Aiden leaning against the door frame of his small office. “Why is Doctor Weir here?” he said with the smuggest look Carson had ever seen on the young lieutenant’s face.

“She is here to check on the welfare of the military commander of this base. I believe, it is what a good expedition leader does.” Carson couldn’t help the mix of annoyance and sarcasm that dripped into his voice as he spoke. Aiden’s continued smile made Carson really hope that some alien would stick their tongue down John’s throat on their next away mission, purely to shut Aiden up and give him some peace from this bloody bet.


	3. The Eye

Looking around the mess hall, Carson was relieved to see that Lieutenant Ford wasn’t there. Ever since they had returned from the mainland after the storm and Genii invasion, Aiden had been relentless in his pursuit for information regarding the relationship status of Major Sheppard and Doctor Weir. At first, he thought it was because of an innocent comment he had made while they were stranded. _“They’ll be fine, they make a good team,”_ was all Carson had said and he was including Rodney in that team, but Aiden’s eyes lit up, and he started questioning _why_ Carson thought that, _what_ had he heard or seen? He had floundered at the barrage of questions, looking to Teyla to help, who just looked away with a smile as she checked on the Asthosian’s they had rescued in the storm. But Aiden had found him in the infirmary and told him of the stand off in the gate room between Sheppard and Koyla. How Koyla had Elizabeth hostage in front of the active gate and how John shot at him to get him to release Elizabeth. Carson presumed that if he was there to witness the action himself, he would have just assumed it was John doing his job as military leader, but the way Aiden told it, it was like an epic romance set in some regency era novel.

It was no surprise to Carson that no matter what he said after this, Aiden refused to accept that he did not know anything, nor did he care to. ‘ _I’m not interested in gossip, laddie,_ ’ he must have said it ten times, but Aiden was sure that something _must_ be going on because of the gate room incident coupled with Carson’s comments on the Jumper. When Aiden started questioning the times one of them had ended up in the infirmary and the words ‘doctor-patient confidentiality’ had fallen from his lips, Carson knew he had lost. Nothing would stop his pestering now, as he was sure that Elizabeth and John were an item and Carson had merely confirmed it with his denials, but apparently Aiden needed details to win the bet.

As he made his way through the mess hall, a small smile began to form on Carson’s face. There was no Aiden to pester him for details he did not have, on a relationship he refused to gossip about and a decent meal that would keep him full enough until his shift ended. He decided to sit at a table occupied by Peter Grodin and a few other scientists, sure that they would not be interested in the bet. The scientists of Atlantis surely had better things to discuss than relationships. He was quick to realise he was sorely mistaken. He heard the conversation just as he placed his tray on the table and as the scientists all turned and nodded in greeting before continuing their lively conversation, he realised it was too late for him leave, lest he had several more people pestering him for information from him that he did not have.

Carson pondered if he would be able to just drown out the conversation as he ate his meal, but one of the scientists, he was sure his name was Abrams, was overly enthusiastic in his retelling of the events of the previous week. “I heard that when the Major thought Doctor Weir was dead, he was like a man possessed! He ran around taking out Genii soldiers and -”

“Who told you this?” Grodin interrupted the overeager scientist, “Everyone was evacuated to Manaria other than Major Sheppard, Doctor Weir and Doctor McKay.” Everyone turned to Abrams expecting some sort of confirmation, who only smugly smiled back at them.

“Rodney?! He did not tell you that!” One of the other scientists piped up. “You really want that jar of coffee Markham put in the bet, if you’re able to make stuff like that up.”

“I’m telling you! He said that guy who took them hostage told Sheppard that he was going to kill Doctor Weir, Rodney pleaded their case and the guy walked off to Doctor Weir’s office. Next he heard about Sheppard; he’d killed like five guys.” Carson had begun eying the exit, wondering if he had been noticed or if he would be able to slip away from the table without comment but it wasn’t to be.

“Doctor Beckett?” At the sound of his name Carson couldn’t stop a sigh from escaping his lips. He knew what was coming. “You were there by the end, right? Is it true, did Sheppard kill all those Genii soldiers?”

“Aye, by the end. When the eye passed over the mainland, we made our way back to Atlantis.” He looked around the table to see all eyes expectantly waiting for a confirmation. “I spent most of my time knocked out in the jumper bay.” He smiled at their deflated looks. That, he decided, would keep them from asking him anymore questions. He didn’t want to tell them to tell them Aiden’s version of the stand-off. Aiden would tell them at some point. Why should he get involved and have even more of the Atlantis crew pestering him for information?

Carson was sure that they’d rather hear Aiden’s Harlequin novel-esque retelling of the event than his anyway.


	4. The Siege

Standing beside Aiden’s bed in the infirmary, Carson was still slightly in a state of shock. He couldn’t quite believe or understand how Aiden _survived_ the attack from the Wraith soldier and subsequent fall into the ocean. When his body had been beamed into the infirmary with the dead Wraith still attached to his body, Carson had been horrified by the sight and terrified that he wouldn’t survive. He still wasn’t sure he would.

Carson had explained it to Major Sheppard and Doctor Weir as best as he understood himself: The Wraith inject some sort of enzyme into the body when they latch onto a human to feed, this makes the human stronger and more able to withstand the feeding process. With how they had found Aiden, the Wraith dead and still attached to his body mid-feed, Carson had to assume that he had gotten a huge burst of the stuff. When they removed the Wraith from Aiden, they severed the link that was feeding the enzyme into his body and it immediately started to break down. There was no doubt that Aiden needed to be slowly weaned off this enzyme. It was much like a drug, and the enzyme breakdown was causing him to go into withdrawal. It was the only path Carson could see that would give him even a small chance of survival.

He had extracted more of the Wraith enzyme, harvested from the dead Wraith littering the halls after the first wave of attacks, and he was ready to inject the first dose, desperate for it to work. “Come on son, hang in there,” he pleaded with Aiden as the enzyme injection started to course through his veins. “You’re missing all the fun. The Wraith are still knocking at the door, more ships are coming. I’m sure Major Sheppard will want your help.” He said hoping that Aiden could hear him and use his words to fight. There was no immediate change in his condition of course, so he shouted over a nurse to keep an eye on him for any changes while he checked up on the other injured members of Atlantis.

Carson returned a little while later, waving off the nurse to go for a break, all their patients were currently stable, and he knew she had not stopped for several hours. He pulled up a stool and sat by Aiden’s bed, checking his charts and to see not much had changed in the fifteen or so minutes he was gone. Seeing Aiden laid out on the bed, not sure if he would survive, Carson realised how fond he had become of the lad. He thought that as much of a nuisance as he could be about the bloody bet, he had come to see him as a friend. Aiden could go and pester anyone about it, Carson mused, but he came and included him in the ridiculous thing. Maybe it was just because he had prime information; it was an undeniable fact that being stuck in the infirmary at deaths door often brings out near death declarations of love or at least lust, but Carson liked to think that maybe it was because Aiden wanted to be his friend and include him, even if it was something he kept telling Aiden he wasn’t that interested in being included in.

He looked around to see that the few nurses in the infirmary were out of earshot before quietly speaking to Aiden. “You know lad, I heard something that I think you would be very interested in,” he said, with a smile, hoping Aiden could hear him. “Aye, it seems that when John beamed into the gate room from the Daedalus, Elizabeth came barrelling down the stairs from her office and gave him a very, shall we say, enthusiastic hug.” Carson couldn’t help laughing to himself at how chaste his description was. He had heard it from one of the marines who came to see Colonel Everett and pulled him aside to question if ‘the Major and that Doctor Weir were a thing’. It seemed that no matter if people had been on Atlantis for a year or an hour, they could all see the chemistry between the two. Even Carson had to admit it was there and even though he would argue with Aiden until he was blue in the face that they were friends and nothing more, he couldn’t deny that potentially there could be _something_ between the two.

Carson would not normally be the one to discuss people’s personal lives, but he decided that this was an exceptional circumstance. If there was one thing that he thought could bring Aiden Ford round quicker, it was that bloody bet! So, he continued speaking to his unconscious friend. “Well, she had thought he was dead, and between you and me,” he said, as he moved closer to Aiden and continued in an almost conspiratorial whisper, “I was expecting a ‘thank god you’re alive snog’ after that at least.”

Of course, telling him a bit of gossip wasn’t going to work to bring Aiden round. Carson knew that he would have to give him a bigger dose of the enzyme, but he was reluctant. A bigger dose could potentially either make him more addicted to the stuff or maybe even outright kill him, but it could also save him. Carson decided it was worth the risk and loaded up another dose of the enzyme and injected it. As Carson sat and waited for a reaction to the shot, one of the nurses came and asked him to help with another patient so he left Aiden alone to recover.

When he returned to Aiden’s bed not five minutes later, he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this ended abruptly, but i don't think that drugged up Aiden would be all that bothered about the bet. Also this is the last chapter with Aiden, but never fear, I have someone else in mind to irritate Carson with The Bet shenanigans for future chapters!


	5. The Intruder

Carson had to admit to himself he was exhausted; he had spent his entire time on Earth looking over personnel files to find new members for his team back on Atlantis. All the people who he had been given to choose from were ten times more qualified than him and despite Elizabeth’s insistence that he was her choice for chief surgeon, he still felt a little like a fraud. He had eventually (with Elizabeth’s help) picked out several new members, some of whom were invaluable on the return trip to Atlantis when the virus broke out. Now he was back in the City, walking to the infirmary with Rodney to get him moisturiser for his sun burnt nose, Carson realised how tired he was. All he wanted to do at that moment was head to his quarters and lie down and sleep for three days straight.

“I can’t believe this,” Rodney said, breaking Carson from his thoughts. Carson looked toward Rodney to see him still staring at his hand in horror. His nose was red raw, worse than even a few moments before because he kept scratching at it.

“It won’t be so bad if _you stop scratching it_.” Carson replied.

“I can’t help if it’s itchy.” Carson rolled his eyes at Rodney as they entered the infirmary and made their way over to one of the cabinets storing the creams and moisturisers that didn’t need to be locked away.

“What do you think about Sheppard getting promoted?” Rodney enquired as Carson looked through the creams to find one suitable for his sunburn. Rodney didn’t let him even contemplate an answer before continuing. “Elizabeth forced them to do it, practically called the President. Thank god, I heard Stargate Command wanted to bring in Colonel Caldwell as Atlantis military commander, that would have been a nightmare.”

“Aye, I guess that is why the Colonel was so angry on the trip back,” Carson mused thinking back on their recent journey. The Colonel was particularly icy with Elizabeth and John. “Sheppard’s been doing a good job and has the respect of everyone here, why they thought that bringing someone else here to take over…” he trailed off as he found the best cream for Rodney’s burn and handed it over. As Rodney busied himself with applying the cream, Carson drifted into thoughts of Atlantis with Caldwell as the military commander. It was not an idea he relished. Caldwell seemed to have a ‘what I say goes’ attitude which would not be good for Carson or any of the scientists in the City. John, on the other hand, was willing to listen to opinions and form his own with facts presented to him, Carson did not expect Caldwell would have listened to a word anyone who wasn’t military had to say.

“Well, thanks to Elizabeth we don’t have to worry about it. It has got people talking about the bet though.” Rodney broke Carson from his thoughts. He didn’t need to explain which bet, Carson had noticed that people had stopped talking so much about it in the past couple of months, either they were bored with it or everyone was too worried about the very real Wraith threat to think about it. Carson presumed without the ringleader around anymore, people would just forget all about it. “They really want to be careful if they are dating, I mean, Major Brown said they were openly flirting in the mess hall on the Daedalus when he went to tell them about the virus and he is part of the ships crew, he won’t know anything about the City’s little betting pool.”

Carson rolled his eyes at this, “Rodney, his boss is Caldwell, he was probably just spreading rumours.”

“Hmm, well maybe. I still think there’s something going on between them. Sheppard was furious at the way Colonel Everett wouldn’t deal with her during the siege and then Elizabeth got him promoted using her connections to the President to do it? That’s -”

“Something she would possibly do for any one of us.” Carson finished for him. “Why are you pushing this? It was only a few months ago you were angrily telling me that Sheppard was the expedition’s Kirk with the way women fall all over him.”

“That does not disprove my point.”

“If he was a womaniser, would he really risk being in a relationship that could cost him his job?” Rodney looked contemplative and Carson saw the opportunity to shut the argument down completely. “Kirk being a womaniser is fanboys interpretation, that wasn’t his real character.”

“I am not going to argue about Star Trek with you.”

“Only because you know I’m right.” Carson laughed, he wasn't even that interested in Star Trek, but knew it was an easy button to press to shut Rodney up. He started to walk out of the infirmary, motioning for Rodney to follow, he was desperate for food and then sleep. “So, what did you put into the pot you’re so intent on winning?”

“Uh, a signed picture of William Shatner,” Carson stopped and turned to look at Rodney with a look of surprise on his face at that. “You do realise that Markham only put in a _jar of coffee_. You really believe it that much? When did you-”

“After the storm. I’m telling you Carson, there is something going on with them.” Rodney replied seriously. "Now I assume you were heading to the mess hall, I need food, I can feel a hypoglycemic attack coming on if I don't get something to eat right now."


	6. Conversion

Carson had been looking forward to his date with Laura Cadman all week. It had been a few months since they had gone on their first date, but between Carson’s busy work schedule in the infirmary and Laura’s off world missions they had not had much chance to go on actual dates. This was only their fifth. Laura had jokingly called it the sixth, but Carson had refused to class the shambles that was his dinner with Rodney and Katie Brown while she was stuck in Rodney’s head a ‘date’. It had been a few months since the ‘incident’ (he refused to call the kiss between him and Laura/Rodney anything else) and he was finally at the point where he knew he would be able to see past and even forget that the fact that the first time she kissed him was with Rodney McKay’s lips and not her own. Their first date had been awkward to say the least. Laura had started by apologising but also not apologising for kissing him through Rodney. She said that she didn’t think she was going to live and wanted to do one thing that she had wanted to do since she first saw him, so she wasn’t sorry for doing it, just sorry that she embarrassed him in front of his colleagues and herself for the terrible kiss. Carson had to agree the kiss was awful, although she did prove later on that date that she was a much better kisser when she was in her own body and it amused him when she said that it proved Rodney was as terrible at kissing as he was with women in general.

He had been able to procure some decent food for the date and even some wine. Things were a lot easier to come by now that the Daedalus was regularly commuting between Earth and Atlantis, so when Laura showed up to his quarters he was happy to see her appreciatively glance at the table that he had set up with the food and drink and a couple of candles. “I’m impressed,” she told him as she entered the room, giving him an appreciative kiss on the cheek, “much better fare than our last date.” They both laughed at that. Date number four had been sandwiches at his desk in the infirmary, he had been called away to a medical emergency before he could even finish half of it. This date would not get interrupted, Carson had decided as they sat down at the prepared table and he poured them both wine. They discussed how their week had been, although it quickly tuned into a discussion about John Sheppard being infected with the Iratus virus.

“Teyla said that John kissed her, she was pretty horrified by it all, but at least he’s apologised I guess,” Laura said.

Carson had been told about that for his reports but knew it was the virus. He had to confess to himself that he had spent a lot of time thinking over John and Elizabeth’s relationship since John had been infected with the Iratus virus. Elizabeth had spent the entire time he was infected glued to John’s bedside while he was in the infirmary and she was the one to go to his quarters with the bad news that they were struggling to get the things needed for the cure, despite the fact that he had become quick to anger. When he had heard about the security breach in Sheppard’s quarters, he immediately had made his way there and found Elizabeth still sat by the soldiers who John had attacked, she was rubbing her throat and was visibly shaken and obviously upset but explained to Carson how much the virus had fully taken hold of John, how he had physically as well as mentally changed since he had been confined to quarters. She had tears in her eyes when she said John had asked her to kill him when she wouldn’t let him leave. ‘ _It's better for the both of us’_ she had whispered, more to herself as tears started to freely flow from her eyes.

“What I don’t understand,” Laura continued, “If he is so into Doctor Weir that people are betting on when they’re gonna get together, why did he kiss Teyla?”

Carson visibly bristled at mention of the bet but decided to brush past it and give his educated opinion on the matter. “The virus pushed his primal side to find someone to mate with who would produce physically strong offspring, not who he might be attracted to.” He was looking at Laura as he spoke and could see her face had lit up as the words spilled from his mouth and he groaned internally at himself.

“So, you agree that he likes her then?” _Damn_ _it._

“I didn’t mean-"

“Tell me about the bet," despite the joy and excitement in her voice, Carson shook his head. A part of him hoped that with the ringleader for the bet gone it would die down and people would forget about it. Obviously, that wasn’t the case if his sort of girlfriend was asking about it. He really did not want his fifth date with a woman he really liked to dissolve into discussing the bloody bet. It was an irritation he could do without, not least that the bet reminded him of Aiden, and he was someone Carson really didn’t want to think about at that moment. He had hated himself for giving Aiden the Wraith enzyme, allowing him to escape, that when he showed up on that planet, he was so busy trying to get the tracker from Ronon’s shoulder he couldn’t try and reason with him. He liked to think that maybe he could have got through to him.

“Do you really want to spend our fifth date talking about this? I thought we might want to get to know each other better.” Laura’s eyebrows shot up at that and a smirk appeared on her face. “I – I didn’t-”

“You really go for that five-date rule?” She asked. Her voice was serious, but Carson could see the smirk had not gone from her face. In fact, he could tell she was holding back laughter at how flustered he had gotten when he realised that he had put his foot in it when he was just trying to change the subject. “Calm down, Carson,” she said before leaning across the table and continuing with a flirty voice, “maybe I got for the five-date rule too.” She winked at him before leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of wine. Carson’s eyes were wide at her comment, he opened his mouth to speak but he couldn’t get his brain and his mouth to work together, so shut his mouth again. Laura was visibly amused at her ability to reduce him to this but didn’t let him suffer more. “You are right, we have been on six dates,” Carson groaned and Laura laughed. “Okay fine, five. We _should_ get to know each other better. I know you are a good doctor, you’re funny, even when you don’t mean to be, and you are pretty hot.” Carson could feel his cheeks go slightly pink at that comment and she smiled. “You’re cute too. The first time I saw you was on the Daedalus on the way to Atlantis. I don’t think you even noticed me though.” He opened his mouth to protest, but she continued. “I’m not complaining, I’m just saying, I liked you from when I first saw you.”

Carson smiled at this and moved to place his hand on top of the one she had placed on the table. “I like you as well. Well enough to get past the fact that you made me bloody kiss Rodney.” They both laughed and Carson was relieved that it was something he could joke about and be entertained by now, rather than want a hole to swallow him up in embarrassment.

“Anyway, I know how hectic it was on the journey from Earth, with the virus and all. That was my first real taste of alien stuff, you know. I mean, I'd been on a SG team for a year fighting the Goa'uld, but that was different, it was just fighting. But an invisible entity terrorising the ship? When we got to Atlantis, I went to Sheppard and begged him to let me go back to Earth,” she conceded. Carson took a hold of her hand on the table and laced his fingers through hers. “He talked me out of it, obviously.” She continued with a roll of her eyes. “That’s when I realised how much he deserved his promotion, he’s a great commander. I mean when people kept talking about how Doctor Weir had made sure that he got promoted to stay in charge of the military contingent I was surprised. The Atlantis crew who were on the return Daedalus journey made out like she only did it because they were secretly fucking or at -"

“Laura,” Carson chided. He didn’t know how she had so expertly brought the conversation back around to the bet, but he had to admit, if only to himself, that he was impressed.

“Come on, Carson! It’s just a bit of fun to entertain the lower ranks, it’s not hurting anybody.”

“Except John and Elizabeth’s reputation,” he countered. Laura rolled her eyes at him, but he continued. “They are the leaders of this base; it is against regulations and there are people on Earth that are looking for any excuse to remove one of them and install their own people in positions of power.”

They were both quiet for a while, Carson wasn’t sure what to say, he didn’t want to fan the flames of the bet, but he wasn’t going to deny what was obvious. “After all I’ve seen over the past year, I can’t and won’t say that there isn’t something between them. Aye, a spark. It’s clear they care about each other, a lot more than they should, but I don’t think they’re actually dating.”

Laura looked to him at that admission with a gleam in her eye. “But they should.”

“Hmm,” he mused with a slight grin on his face.


	7. The Long Goodbye

“Maybe I should talk to them.” Carson looked up from the notes he was writing at the sound of Laura’s voice. She was leaning against the door frame to his office looking towards where John and Elizabeth were both sleeping, recovering from being possessed by the consciousnesses of Phoebus and Thalan. “I mean, I’ve kinda been through that as well.” She concluded.

“Laura, they were possessed by sworn enemies who had been at war for centuries, you were-”

“In Rodney.” She cut him off with a grin and turned to look at him in time to see him wince.

“ _Please_ don’t phrase it that way.”

“I still think-”

“No.”

“Fine,” she relented turning away from him and back to looking at his patients with a huff.

“Laura, I know what you’re trying to do, but they’ve been through a lot,” he said as he stood up from the desk and made his way over to stand in his office doorway behind her. “This isn’t the best time to try and probe for information on if they’re dating for that bloody bet.”

Laura turned her head to look Carson in the eye at the mention of the bet, she had a sly grin on her face that Carson was well aware could spell trouble. “I never said a thing about the bet, but since you bought it up...” Carson couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that, of course, he would be the one to inadvertently turn the conversation to the bet, he had concluded that perhaps he was more obsessed with the notion that the people betting on it were.

After his concession on their date a couple of months ago that he wouldn’t have been surprised if there were feelings involved between John and Elizabeth, if not an actual relationship, Laura had taken to constantly musing about the potential relationship between them, calling it ‘better than a soap opera’. Carson had to protest when she went so far as to call them star crossed lovers, there was nothing star crossed about them, forbidden love he had suggested instead, which had her grinning from ear to ear as she realised that despite his protests and being adamant he wanted nothing to do with the bet, he thought about it too. Though for him, it wasn’t the bet he was thinking of, but the relationship between John and Elizabeth. He hated the bet, but he couldn’t deny that there was something between the two, whether or not they had or would act upon it. And he had come to realise that he hoped they would.

He had thought about their potential relationship a lot over the past few months. It had often been brought to the forefront of his mind because of Aiden and his bet, but more recently he could see for himself why people in the City were so sure that they could be something. If John’s team didn’t check in on time during an off-world mission, Elizabeth would become frantic, not that she didn’t care as much for her other teams' safety, but she seemed to be quicker to send a second team to find out what had happened when John’s team was off-world. Of course, a part of his mind always argued that John’s team was the most high profile; consisting of the military leader and second in command of the base, Atlantis’s best scientist and the leader of the Asthosian people who Elizabeth would not want to upset or worry as they had almost become a part of the city themselves despite living on the mainland. The other part of his brain, well, it was stuck on that bet and all the times he had noticed something between them.

“Forget about the bet,” Laura said, breaking him from his thoughts. “I just think that it’s interesting what happened to those two. I mean with Rodney and I it was Wraith technology; we were just unlucky to end up that way. But them…”

He knew he was going to regret asking, but he did. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not a scientist, I’ve no clue how the brain works, but you can’t deny it’s fascinating, that the aliens picked them.” She turned away from Carson and firmly trained her eyes on the sleeping forms on John and Elizabeth in the infirmary beds before continuing. “I understand Elizabeth, she was closest to the pod when it first opened, but John? He was an active choice. Why him?”

Carson had to admit he had not thought that deeply on the subject, “Aye, I suppose I didn’t question it at the time, but I wonder if Phoebus had even given up control of Elizabeth’s body to allow her to speak in the beginning, maybe she always had complete control, with complete access to Elizabeth's memories and could see how she cared for him.”

“EXACTLY!” She replied with a slight shriek, spinning round to look at Carson again with a glint in her eye that made Carson realise he had given her the ammunition that she needed to continue her theory. “There were a lot of people there, why did Phoebus specifically pick John?”

Laura had grabbed each of his arms in excitement whilst spilling her theory and was practically shaking him with excitement at the thought. “She said they were married,” He reasoned.

“Of course! Phoebus must have known that was the best way to convince him to do it!”

“I don’t think John would have agreed if she said they were sworn enemies, love.” He replied softly, trying to calm her.

“But she could have said anything, picked anyone, but it was Sheppard! Phoebus must have seen something in Elizabeth’s mind that knew he would do anything to make sure she was okay. No offence, but it would have been easier for her to pick you.” Carson baulked at her assertation, for her part she did look a little remorseful for the comment and tried to backtrack. “I mean, you have next to zero knowledge of weapons or the extensive knowledge of the City like John does. If all she wanted to do was end him, it would have been easier to pick someone else, but she had to know that he was the only person who would agree.” She smiled at him and brought her hand up to his cheek, caressing it in a soothing gesture, before reaching up and pressing her lips to his in a chaste kiss. “You know I didn’t mean anything by it, but you understand my point?”

“Aye, it makes sense. I am still glad it was Sheppard; I don’t think I could have dealt with that.”

“You could have.” Carson could see that even though she was looking at him, she was far away, lost in memories. It was then he realised how deeply the experience of sharing a body must have hit her. She never had let it show before, joking about it or making comments about Rodney as a deflection. She blinked seeming to snap back to reality before continuing, “I meant what I said before, you know. Sharing a body with somebody else, not being in control, it’s a strange experience.”

“Let them rest and I’ll tell them you’re free to offer advice on being… not in your own body.” She smiled at that and kissed him before saying goodnight and making him promise to see her in the mess hall for breakfast before he went to sleep. Night shifts were the worst he thought, as he watched her walk out of the infirmary wishing he was going with her.

He looked over towards the beds where John and Elizabeth were both resting. Phoebus had taken a lot out of Elizabeth and had refused to leave her body until only a few hours earlier, fighting against being expelled every step of the way. He knew she would need a lot of rest for her body to recover from the ordeal, and he also knew that the words ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘rest’ were not synonymous. John, however, had woken up and was lying in his bed staring at Elizabeth’s sleeping form. He hesitated a minute before walking over to their beds. “Colonel, you’re awake,” he said, noting how quickly John had looked away from Elizabeth, almost like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been hit with a ton of bricks,” John said as he moved to sit up in his bed, Carson helping him with his pillows so he could prop himself up.

“From what I’ve been told, sharing your body with another consciousness will do that to you,” he said with a smile as he moved towards Elizabeth’s bed to check on her readings. “Laura has offered her services as a counsellor on the matter.”

“Has she? I’m sure she’s _fascinated_ by the whole ordeal.” John said in a tone that made Carson freeze in panic. It was like he knew exactly what they had just been speaking about in his office. Was he awake, had he heard what they were talking about? The thought of John and Elizabeth both knowing about the bet gave him a sudden wisp of panic. “How’s she doing, Doc?”

Carson almost jumped at John’s question, still panicking at the thought of John knowing about the bet and not paying attention to what he said, he started babbling. “She’s fine, she was off-world on a mission for most of it, so -”

“Uh, I meant Elizabeth,” John cut in. “But it’s good to know the whole getting taken over by an alien and nearly killing each other thing didn’t upset your girlfriend.”

“Oh. Oh!” He said, his face started to turn red in embarrassment and he was glad he was looking at Elizabeth’s monitors hoping that the blush of red wasn’t creeping up his neck for John to notice. “She’s fine. She’ll need more rest than you will, I think.”

“Good luck with that one, Doc. I think this is probably the most rest she’s had since we came to Atlantis.” John laughed as Carson looked over at him to see him smiling fondly at Elizabeth, a look that Carson decided he should inform Laura of over breakfast in the morning.


	8. The Real World

It had been two hours since Elizabeth was rushed into the infirmary, unconscious. Two hours and they had finally found the cause. Nanites had infected her, most likely from her recent encounter with Niam. Carson and Rodney were desperately trying to find a way to stop them from spreading, but it was proving difficult. Especially with John constantly standing over them asking how they were doing, if they had found a solution yet, if they knew how to stop the nanites, if he could do anything to help. It was a constant barrage of worried questions; Carson saw it often from people when a loved one was in the infirmary. He knew they thought they were helping, but mostly they were getting in the way and causing him to lose his train of thought on a solution to the problem. Which is exactly what he told John, asking him, politely, to be quiet and go away so they could figure out how to save her.

Carson hadn’t realised until he turned from his computer to check on Elizabeth that John was still in the infirmary. After he had told him to be quiet almost an hour ago, he had shut up and walked off. Carson had assumed that he had left the infirmary in a huff at being told off, but he was standing just outside Elizabeth’s isolation tent, close enough to the plastic casing that he was causing the screen to cloud up with every breath. Rodney was off testing another theory on how they could stop the nanites in one of the science labs and he knew Ronon and Teyla had gone to get food as there was nothing they could do other than wait, he had thought that John had gone off to wait with them.

Without thinking Carson considered, once again, just how close John and Elizabeth were. He was sure at this point that they were more than just co-workers, perhaps more than friends. He could see no other reasonable reason why he would refuse to leave her side when there was nothing for him to do to help. It went beyond being worried for a friend’s wellbeing, Teyla and Ronon were her friends, and yet they knew it was best for them to give Carson space to work, returning every half hour or so to check on progress and see if they needed assistance, staying when there was some development.

John might as well have been glued to the isolation tent, Carson thought as he watched him looking at Elizabeth’s unconscious form with an almost grave look on his face. He realised that he had seen that look too many times, the look of a person worried that they’re going to lose someone they care about. He also knew that it wasn’t good for John to spend every second in the infirmary, that it would be good for him to get away from the infirmary if only for a few minutes. “Why don’t you go get some food Colonel, I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll radio you as soon as anything changes.”

“I’m not hungry,” John replied, his eyes never leaving Elizabeth. They stood in silence, watching as the scanner moved up and down Elizabeth’s body. Carson was just about to turn back to his computer to continue working on his latest theory to stop the nanites when John spoke up again. “She’s, uh. She’s gonna get through this right, Doc?”

He wasn’t sure what to tell him, but he had learned a long time ago that there is no good in giving false hope. The nanites had infected every part of Elizabeth, they were replicating and spreading at an alarming rate and they couldn’t figure out how to stop them. “I don’t know, John. We’re doing everything possible to make sure that she does.” He said as he put his hand on John’s shoulder before turning back to his computer.

It wasn’t much later that Rodney returned, downcast that his latest theory didn’t pan out after testing it in one of Atlantis’s labs. It was hard to stop the nanites when they did not know what they wanted. If they wanted to kill Elizabeth, they would have been able to do it already as they had infested every part of her body and with that infestation, they could easily have put an end to her life.

They were both looking over how far the nanites had spread when John spoke up again. “Do you think she’s aware we’re here?”

“How can she be? She’s unconscious.” Rodney replied.

Carson looked at John and imagined how desperate he must be to do something, anything that might help. “You may be right,” he said taking a step towards him. “You could try talking to her. Tell her to keep fighting.”

“And that will help exactly how?” Rodney said as he approached the two of them. Carson wished sometimes that Rodney would keep his mouth shut. He knew that it probably wouldn’t work, but there was a chance and it was something to keep John’s mind occupied from the fear that Elizabeth might not pull through. He explained to John and Rodney that the sense of hearing is the last thing to go and the first thing to return when in a coma. How studies show patients were able to hear people talking when they were in a comatose state. How active Elizabeth’s mind is, more so than a person in a coma has any right to be, that her EEG reads almost as if she were going about her normal life.

“What are they _doing_ to her?” John questioned, and Carson couldn’t answer. There was no way of knowing what the nanites wanted with Elizabeth. “Aggressive little bastards.” John continued, almost to himself. And that’s when it hits Carson, the nanites were created to stop the Wraith. Carson ran from the infirmary, with Rodney trailing behind. He knew how to save her.

When they returned not thirty minutes later, John was still hovering around the isolation tent, but he had been joined by Teyla and Ronon. He hoped that John had taken his advice and was able to tell Elizabeth what he needed to. That maybe she heard him clear enough to know they were fighting for her, for his own sake as well as hers.

Rodney made quick work or explaining (and taking credit for) Carson’s idea to implant Wraith DNA into Elizabeth and then hit her with an EM pulse to stop the nanites while they are distracted. It should have worked and if they’d done it sooner maybe it would have, but the nanites had started to use organic tissue to replicate rendering an EM pulse useless.

They continued to brainstorm ideas, but Carson was ready to admit defeat. There was nothing they could do, he had used all his medical knowledge, tried every path, listened to every one of Rodney’s plans and nothing worked. It was up to Elizabeth. She was on her own.

John started trying to talk to Elizabeth, telling her to fight, but it was no use, the nanites were spreading faster. Before Carson realised what was happening, John had ripped open the isolation tent and grabbed Elizabeth’s arm “What are you crazy, she could infect you!” Rodney shouted.

John was holding onto her arm, talking to her, telling her to fight, telling her she needed to fight them. Carson was struck dumb for a second that John would risk his health before coming to his senses. “Get him out of there! Put him isolation and run a scan immediately!” He said to the medic in a hazmat suit that dragged John from Elizabeth’s containment. Carson was still slack-jawed as he watched them drag John to another tent on the other side of the infirmary. He looked around at the people he was with. He noticed Teyla shake her head with a small smile before looking back to the tent. Ronan’s gaze was still firmly fixed on Elizabeth as if he could kill the nanites attacking her with a pure sense of will. Rodney, however, was almost incensed.

“Why did he do that?!” Rodney said, before looking back to Elizabeth and Carson saw a silent ‘oh’ play across his lips. Carson couldn’t help having a similar reaction himself until he noticed Rodney face had devolved into one like a cat that got the cream. _That bloody bet_ , Carson thought. He could tell what Rodney was considering with that one look.

He didn’t have time to dwell on it as suddenly Elizabeth began to slowly rouse from her coma. She said something about being back on Atlantis, to which Carson confirmed that she never actually left. Her words confirming that the nanites had done something to her mind to make her think that she was someplace else, that her fight against the nanites was all in her mind. John’s interference and Elizabeth’s awakening began to make sense. Her mind was at war and the touch and voice of somebody she cared for was what she needed to fight back.

After allowing Rodney, Teyla and Ronon a few minutes to talk with Elizabeth and let her know how glad they all were she pulled through, he shooed them from the infirmary to allow her time to rest and him time to run more scans to ensure the nanites were truly gone.

“Carson, I have had enough rest,” Elizabeth complained as he tried to prevent her from sitting up on the bed.

“Elizabeth, you have been through a lot-”

“You have no idea,” she says with a sad lilt to her voice. “Please Carson, just let me sit up at least.” He relented and allowed her to sit as he resumed his scans. “Where’s John? I – I thought…”

Carson looked up at Elizabeth to see the worried look on her face. “He’s in containment. He entered your isolation tent with no hazmat. We need to ensure he’s not been infected.”

“Is he going to be okay?!” Carson could see the panic on her face, her eyes darting around the infirmary as if to seek John out.

“He only touched you for a few seconds, a medic is running scans on him now.” Elizabeth rubbed her right hand over her left arm, where John had grabbed earlier, a small smile ghosting over her lips. Carson could see nothing wrong with Elizabeth once the scans were complete and could feel her watching him like she thought he had more important things to be doing than looking after her.

Just as Carson was ready to give the all-clear to Elizabeth, a medic asked for Carson’s assistance with the scans on John. He left Elizabeth to rest and made his way to John’s isolation tent.

As they arrived at the area set up with the second isolation tent, he could see John pacing back and forth inside the tent, the medic who had asked for assistance made her way back to the computer with a shake of her head. “Has he been infected?” Carson asked.

“He won’t lie on the bed for us to run the scan,” the medic replied.

John had stopped pacing and had moved to the wall of the tent. “Carson! How’s Elizabeth? Is she awake?”

“Yes,” Carson replied a little more tersely than he intended. “Lie down on the bed.” John didn’t move but continued to stare intently at Carson as if expecting more of answer. “She is awake and will recover, now lie down.” He said as he turned away and started to get into a hazmat suit. Relenting, John did as he was asked and moved to lie on the bed. “Can you go check on Doctor Weir. I’d like to keep her in confinement for a few hours, to be certain, but she can get up and get dressed if she wishes to.” The medic nodded and smiled before leaving.

Carson put on the helmet to his suit and made his way into the tent, John was lying on the bed with his head turned towards him, watching as he set up the scanner that was attached to the bed. He worked studiously on setting it for the needed scans as he found that he couldn’t look at John without a burst of anger hitting him. Stupid! It was a stupid risk.

Almost as if John could read his thoughts, he spoke just as Carson was about to exit the tent. “I had to do something.” It was almost a whisper. Carson turned his head to face John, but he was staring at the opposite wall. Suddenly Carson understood. This was the first battle that John hadn’t been able to fight his way out of, he had to stand and watch someone, Elizabeth, suffer.

“It was a stupid risk.” Carson chided. “Risking your own life, the possibility of infecting yourself and others on the slim chance that she would respond! It was reckless. I think Elizabeth would tell you that herself.”

“I know. I just. I had to do _something_.” He repeated.

“Sometimes love makes us do stupid things.” John froze almost as if he had stopped breathing and Carson’s eyes went wide, his breathing sped up. He was panicked. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud. “I, uh, I mean, we, we all love Elizabeth, aye.” He started stuttering over his words. “We would all, do, uh, ahem, whatever it took to protect her.”

John turned his head to look at Carson. “You know.” His quiet reply a statement more than a question. “How long have you known?”

Carson was frozen, unsure of how to reply to the confirmation that John had just given. How long had he known? Should he tell him the truth? That people had been betting on them since that first party on Atlantis. Or that Carson had begun to suspect there was _something_ ever since John had been infected with the Iratus virus the previous year. Or that he was sure of it when John was willing to be taken over by an alien because ‘Elizabeth’ _asked_. “I, uh.” He started but stopped short, not knowing what to tell John. He settled on the truth. “I didn’t, not for certain. Nobody does.”

“I thought we’d been careful.” He said with a shake of his head.

Carson studied him for a moment as John focused his gaze on the scanner in front of him watching the green lights flicker. He looked like his world might fall apart. It only took Carson a second to decide. “There is a bet,” he says, almost regretting saying it when John whips his head around to focus on Carson. “It’s silly really. I think it started as entertainment, but most people that know about it talk like it’s inevitable.”

John was staring at Carson; his face was somehow a mixture of anger and disbelief and Carson wondered if he should have said anything. “I didn’t, I’ve not… I don’t have anything to do with it.” Carson stammered.

“No one knows?” John asked.

“Not for sure, no,” he answered.

“Okay,” John said with a nod of his head.

Carson watched him for a moment before moving to exit the tent to begin the scans, stopping before exiting and inclining his head back to John. “It won’t leave this room.”

“Thank you.” John replied still staring at the scanner in front of him. Carson smiled as he exited the tent and made his way to the computer to begin to scan for nanites.


End file.
